Bernoulli’s Equation with Acceleration

Abstract

For steady frictionless flow along a straight line, when a constant acceleration is applied parallel to that line, a term needs to be added to the standard form of Bernoulli’s equation. After so modifying, the equation then predicts that along a streamline, when the speed is high, the pressure is significantly lower than that if there were no acceleration. For example, one might think of a dense fluid falling down through a less dense fluid under gravity. Potential applications to vertical motions of the atmosphere, such as down bursts of cold dry air and warm humid updrafts in the eye of a hurricane, are mentioned.